''Goodenia pumilio'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Goodeniaceae Goodeniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus '' Scaevola'', which is pantropical. Its species are found ac ...

and is native to northern Australia and New Guinea. It is a prostrate,

stolon In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...

-forming

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves in rosettes, and

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s of small, dark reddish-purple flowers.

Description

''Goodenia pumilio'' is a prostrate, stolon-forming herb with stems up to with scattered, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, arranged in rosettes at the base of the plant and on the stolons, long and wide. The flowers are arranged in racemes up to long, sometimes singly in leaf axils, with leaf-like

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s long. Each flower is on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long with lance-shaped

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s up to long. The petals are dark reddish purple, long, the lower lobes of the corolla long and lacking wings. Flowering mainly occurs from April to July and the fruit is an oval capsule about long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Goodenia pumilio'' was first formally described in 1810 by

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

in his ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a book by the botanist Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''pumilio'') means "dwarf".

Distribution and habitat

This goodenia grows in marshes and swamps in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of Western Australia, northern parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland and in New Guinea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q51050660 pumilio Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of New Guinea Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)